The Ringwald Theatre Presents Gay Play Series, 6/17-27

Who Wants Cake? and The Ringwald Theatre are proud to announce the return of its wildly popular Gay Play Series (GPS). Last year's inaugural outing was attended by hundreds of people over a single weekend. This year the festival will run over 10 days with additional programming and added festivities from June 17th through June 27th once again at The Ringwald Theatre in downtown Ferndale.

"After such a great first year, we are so pleased to be able to expand our GPS festival. We're producing more original plays, offering some staged readings, an opportunity to get to know some of this years featured playwrights, and, of course, another edition of the MisCast Cabaret," said artistic director Joe Bailey.

The 2011 GPS will kick off on Friday, June 17 at 8:00 PM with the opening ceremonies that will include light food and drink and a special performance of Streep-Tease/Penn-ography. Streep-Tease/Penn-ography features men performing monologues from Meryl Streep films, while the ladies will be performing Sean Penn monolgues. Featured performers on opening night include Joe Bailey, Joe Plambeck, Jamie Richards, Jamie Warrow, Melissa Beckwith, Matthew Turner Shelton, Vince Kelley, Suzan M. Jacokes, Dyan Bailey, Lisa Jesswein, Christa Coulter, Bryan Lark, Mark Sobolewski, Richard Payton, Caroline Price, Tony Gross, and Cara Trautman.

The original One-Act Festival includes 9 new plays and will be performed in two blocks over four days with one additional day being reserved for all 9 plays to be presented marathon-style.

Block A includes:
Our Little Lezzie by Allison Fradkin
My Cup Bearer Runneth Off by Ron Morrelli
Reluctant Hero by Matt Heftler
Love, Liza? by Anson Mount
What Happened When by Daniel Talbott

Block B includes:
Intervention by Dyan Bailey
Vowed & Wowed by Rich Orloff
I Had to Meet You Like This Here (Again) (One More Time) by Brian Walker
A Few Survivors by Jason Sebacher

Block A will perform on Saturday, June 18 and Friday, June 24 at 8PM, and Sunday, June 25 at 1PM.
Block B will perform on Sunday, June 19 at 3PM, Saturday, June 25 at 8PM, and Sunday, June 26 at 5PM.
Once again, audiences will be asked to vote for their favorite play. The winning production will be given a special encore performance on Monday, June 27 at 8PM and will receive a full production at The Ringwald Theatre during their 2011-2012 season. This year, awards will also be given for favorite director and favorite performance.

This year will also include a special talk show/meet the playwrights evening. Totes Talk: Meet the Playwrights will be hosted by Joe Bailey and Suzan M. Jacokes. This evening of chat, questions, answers and anecdotes with the playwrights of this year's one-act plays will take place on Monday, June 20 at 8PM.

Wednesday, June 22 and Thursday, June 23 will bring reverse-gender staged readings of two classic plays. We will use these pieces to explore gender in a theatrical forum. David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow featuring Jamie Warrow (Bobby Gould), Suzan M. Jacokes (Charlie Fox), and Matthew Turner Shelton (Karen) and directed by Dinah Lynch will be performed Wednesday, June 22 at 8PM.
Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias featuring Joe Bailey (M'Lynn), Vince Kelley (Shelby), Jamie Richards (Truvy), Joe Plambeck (Annelle), Richard Payton (Ouiser), and Jeremy Ryan Mossman (Clairee) will be performed Thursday, June 23 at 8PM.

Finally, Monday, June 27 brings the closing ceremonies. In addition to the encore performance of the winning play, the Motown MisCast Cabaret returns with men singing theatre songs normally sung by women and vice versa. This year's edition, titled The Gang Bang, will feature only duets, trios, and group numbers. An all-star Detroit cast will be on hand to lend their vocal gifts.

Admission will be $10 per event or a $30 pass is available that will provide access to all events. Reservations may be made online at www.WhoWantsCakeTheatre.com or by phone at 248-545-5545. The Ringwald is located at 22742 Woodward Avenue in Ferndale, MI and the box office will open 45 minutes before each event. Cash and Visa/Mastercard will be accepted at the door.

2011 GPS Calendar of Events:

Friday, June 17, 2011, 8PM: Opening Ceremonies, Streep-Tease/Penn-ography
Saturday, June 18, 2011, 8PM: Block A of the One-Act Play Festival
Sunday, June 19, 3PM: Block B of the One-Act Play Festival
Monday, June 20, 8PM: Totes Talk: Meet the Playwrights
Wednesday, June 22, 8PM: Reverse gender staged reading of Speed-the-Plow
Thursday, June 23, 8PM: Reverse gender staged reading of Steel Magnolias
Friday, June 24, 8PM: Block A of the One-Act Play Festival
Saturday, June 25, 8PM: Block B of the One-Act Play Festival
Sunday, June 26, 1PM: Block A of the One-Act Play Festival
Sunday, June 26, 5PM: Block B of the One-Act Play Festival
Monday, June 27, 8PM: Closing ceremonies/Encore performance of winning play / Motown MisCast Cabaret: The Gang Bang

Who Wants Cake? opened the doors to their resident home, The Ringwald, in May of 2007 with Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy. Quickly, The Ringwald became a mainstay of Detroit's theatre community. Since opening their doors, Who Wants Cake? has been offering up slice after slice of successful shows including Southern Baptist Sissies, Jeffrey, Some Men, The Bad Seed, Rent, and Sordid Lives: It's a Drag!. Who Wants Cake? was named 2009 Best Theatrical Troupe by Real Detroit and The Ringwald was voted Best Place to See Local Theatre in the Metro Times BEST OF DETROIT issue in 2010 and 2011.